Everett Frank (16) was a too-good-to-be-true, kind, athletic, wonderful person who brought levity, joy and courage everywhere he went. He was loved deeply by his parents, two sisters, family and friends and he loved deeply in return.
In the summer of 2021, when Everett was 13, he had a basketball injury to the ribs. He had pain that persisted for weeks and we assumed he broke a rib. An x-ray led to better imaging and then to experts at Children’s Hospital Colorado. On Sept 9, 2021, we met with doctors who told us “this is cancer and it won’t go away on its own… we will need to do chemotherapy and surgery,” they told us “this is treatable, removable and curable.” Everett quickly had surgeries to biopsy the tumor and place a chemotherapy port under his skin. He was diagnosed with an aggressive bone cancer called Osteosarcoma. He had a sizable tumor on and in his 8th left rib that had to be addressed immediately.
After months of high intensity chemotherapy and a major eight-hour surgery to remove his entire 8th rib, Everett rang the bell to show his treatment was finished. Only to find out soon thereafter that the cancer had spread to his right lung and more treatment was needed. The next two years were a bit of a roller coaster that became a tumor hunt and a symptom chase. He underwent more high intensity chemo and had additional surgeries. He rang the bell a second time and he was off treatment for the spring and summer of 2023. Unfortunately, Osteosarcoma was a predator that figured out a way to uniquely attack Everett’s body and go around all the interventions doctors tried. In October 2023, there were only a few options left which would only buy us time. He lived another 10 months.
Everett was AMAZING through all of this. He was a bright light in every dark circumstance. He was genuine, devoted, patient and kind. Like the true athlete he was, he kept getting up, could keep digging deeper, and pushing a little harder. Everett was an example to us in all of it. He did not dwell in fear, anger or depression. Everett Frank rose up each day to give that day all he had. He didn’t just fade away and die – he LIVED until he no longer could. Everett was wholehearted and never wanted cancer to define him. He went through the HARDEST things – walked a very hard road – and one that not many got to witness up close. Most people saw him show up with a hat and missing eyebrows and figured he was good. Little did they know, he was overcoming, persevering and showing up to life, which took all he had, and he gave it all he had, happily and hopefully.
No one can truly understand the gravity of the physical impacts cancer treatment had on Everett’s body and life. Cancer took Everett’s ability to attend school normally, his chances to compete at a high level in the sports he loved and had been pursuing, it limited his physical endurance, affected his organs and skin, his physical appearance and his future.
He spent over 150 nights at Children’s Hospital Colorado, had 10 surgeries, multiple chest tubes, ER visits, nights in the ICU, transfusions, cryoablation, EKGs, ultrasounds, PET scans, Xrays, MRIs and many CT scans. He persevered through radiation, many cycles of chemotherapy, weight loss, weight gain, losing his hair twice and never really getting it all back, broken bones, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure, knee pain and excruciating pain in his lung which showed up in his back and shoulder and never went away. Once the cancer was no longer controlled or held back by medications, it spread and impacted multiple systems in his body.
The way Everett lived was the way we hope to live and something we hope inspires others. He focused on the living and seizing opportunities as they came. He wanted to be a good friend, boyfriend and brother – and even a great son. When he was told his life would be shorter, he told us “even if it’s a shorter life, it’s my life, and it’s a good life.” He faced death head on. He told us multiple times he was ok with dying, he just knew it would be hard on us to live without him here. He was at peace with God and at peace with others. Toward the end of his life he said “I’m content with my life…”. He felt he had lived it well and done what he wanted to do. Even when he couldn’t do as much at the end of his life, he gave each day his all and never gave up.
Everett Frank did hard things, often. He showed up (even in pain), consistently. He loved his people well, always. Everett passed away on Sunday August 4, 2024 peacefully and surrounded by his family at home, which is what he had hoped for. He was 16 years old.
“Like Everett, Be a Friend. Do Hard Things. Just Live.”
